Early records of Schwarzwald were lost. The church is estimated to have formed in 1737. Beginning with a log cabin it was later replaced with a stone structure. And later in 1870, with a brick structure which stands today. The cornerstone was laid on Jul 17, 1870. In mid 1950s additions and paved parking lots were added. And in 1962 another addition was added. With each of these major building upgrades, graves and tombstones were displaced and or paved over. Except for the last change in 1962, no records are found as to the disposition of the graves and stones. The names on the plaque represent those graves moved or covered about 1962. All the readable stones were transcribed. There were a total of 147 stones, 31 unreadable, faded or missing. These stones, as well as other earlier removed, and burial remains, are thought to be below the concrete floor of the social hall. The tombstone transcription data details was further transcribed and entered into findagrave and ancestry.com by Neil Scheidt in 2010. Also see http://berks.pa-roots.com, go to cemeteries' and then go down the list of names until you see Schwarzwald and plaque.

In 1945 and again in 1986 every readable tombstone was recorded. EVERY PRE-CIVIL WAR PERIOD TRANSCRIPTION FROM THOSE LISTS HAS BEEN ENTERED INTO THIS WEBSITE ALONG WITH THE GRAVE LOCATION. ALL OTHER MEMORIALS CREATED AND NOT MENTIONED BELOW, WITHOUT A GRAVE LOCATION, IS LIKELY SPECULATION IF NO BURIAL SOURCE IS PROVIDED.

Although most pioneer residents of Exeter attended Schwarzwald church and had marriages and baptisms there, many were not buried here. They were buried on their homestead cemeteries. The cemeteries located and documented include Bishop, Boone, Close/Kline, Custard, Deturk/Boone, Frill, Guldin,Hechler/Esterly, Levan, Lincoln 1,2,3, Messersmith, Neukirk, Ritter 1,2, Schneider/Snyder,Wagner and Young/Kissling. Sadly, many of the tombstones have been buried, stolen, plowed under, or are unreadable.